Historic Preservation Commission - May 17, 2017 - Minutes
SAN FRANCISCO
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Commission Chambers Room 400,
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
12:30 p.m.
Regular Hearing
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Wolfram, Hasz, Johnck, Matsuda, Pearlman, Johns, Hasz
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Hyland
THE MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER BY PRESIDENT WOLFRAM AT 12:33 PM
STAFF IN ATTENDANCE: Jeff Joslin – Director of Current Planning, Shannon Ferguson, Jon Vimr, Frances Johnston, Stephanie Cisneros, Tim Frye – Historic Preservation Officer, Jonas P. Ionin – Commission Secretary
SPEAKER KEY:
+ indicates a speaker in support of an item;
- indicates a speaker in opposition to an item; and
= indicates a neutral speaker or a speaker who did not indicate support or opposition.
A. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
At this time, members of the public may address the Commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission except agenda items. With respect to agenda items, your opportunity to address the Commission will be afforded when the item is reached in the meeting. Each member of the public may address the Commission for up to three minutes.
SPEAKER: Georgia Schuttish – 1266 Hampshire, 1071 Alabama
B. DEPARTMENT MATTERS
Tim Frye, Preservation Officer:
Director's report included in your packets; happy to answer any questions should you have them.2. Review of Past Events at the Planning Commission, Staff Report and Announcements
Tim Frye, Preservation Officer:
Just a few items to share with you; as a couple of you are aware about half the preservation team went to the California Preservation Foundation Statewide Conference last week. So it was well attended and represented in terms of San Francisco presence. We had a great time. There were a lot of fantastic tours and sessions. I just wanted to point out that cultural heritage and intangible heritage still remains a topic very much in the forefront of people's minds. So there were a lot of great sessions around that topic and as you know we will continue to discuss that here in San Francisco and with the work of the Cultural Heritage Assets Committee. Also, while we were at-in the Pasadena, San Francisco Heritage hosted their soiree, their annual fundraising event and I don't see Mr. Buehler in the audience so I'll go ahead and make you aware that they launched a new initiative at the soiree called the San Francisco Landmark Fund. On their website is a link to a short movie narrated by Roman Mars from 99% of Invisible if you're familiar with that NPR radio show. We'll send around a link to the YouTube clip, but essentially in anticipation of Heritage's 50th anniversary they are proposing to forward us 50 landmark nominations in five years, so certainly, increase our workload here and our workload, but also this commission's workload. It's an exciting endeavor and certainly the department in support of it. So we will continue to keep you posted and I'm sure Mr. Buehler will be here soon to present on the efforts that they are putting together to fund those nominations. Finally, one item to share with you from the Planning Commission at its May 11th hearing, so last Thursday, we filed a staff initiated Discretionary Review on a property at 38 Rossi St. Staff, for those of you not familiar, staff initiated DR was required because the applicant was not willing to do any of the work that the Department ask them to complete. The work was essentially around a façade alteration and an addition to a contributor to an eligible historic district that the Department felt those alterations in that addition should be reversed to bring, to maintain the integrity of that resource. The applicant was not willing to make those changes and so we initiated the staff DR. The Planning Commission upheld staff's recommendation and in particular, Commissioner Moore requested the original roof form also be restored which was not something we were requesting. I do have a before and after photo of the property just to show you what its current condition looks like and when it's anticipated condition will be once they comply with the Planning Commission's recommendations. So again this is some of our work that comes from the Enforcement Team related to historic preservation and naturally, the Enforcement Team will be before the HPC in the future to let you know what their activities have been over the last year now that we are fully staffed on enforcement related to historic preservation. That concludes my comments unless you have any questions. Thank you.Commissioner Johnck:
I'm a little confused. So we approved a permit or a certificate for this property and with conditions and then the app-the owner?President Wolfram:
No, it's not a historic--Tim Frye, Preservation Officer:
I'm sorry, I was probably unclear. It's an eligible resource through CEQA and the owner completed the work without benefit of permit. So to legalize the work they filed a permit and we asked them to actually return it back to its condition before the illegal work was completed.President Wolfram:
So where it say the before and after; the after is what it looks like now?Tim Frye, Preservation Officer:
That is correct.President Wolfram:
You want it to go back to the before?Tim Frye, Preservation Officer:
That is correct.
C. COMMISSION MATTERS
3. President’s Report and Announcements
None
4. Consideration of Adoption:
SPEAKER: None ACTION: Adopted AYES: Wolfram, Hasz, Johnck, Johns, Matsuda, Pearlman ABSENT: Hyland 5. Commission Comments & Questions
President Wolfram:
Also disclosure at this point I want to disclose I had numerous calls regarding 546 Fillmore landmark nominations. Does anybody else have any comments or disclosure or questions? No. We can move on.
D. CONSIDERATION OF ITEMS PROPOSED FOR CONTINUANCE
The Commission will consider a request for continuance to a later date. The Commission may choose to continue the item to the date proposed below, to continue the item to another date, or to hear the item on this calendar.
6. 2015-005890DES (S. FERGUSON: (415) 575-9074)
546-554 FILLMORE STREET – east side of Fillmore Street, north side of Oak Street, south side of Fell Street, Assessor's Blocks/Lots 0828/021, 0828/022, 0828/022A and 0828/012, (District 5). Consideration to Recommend to the Board of Supervisors designation of the former Sacred Heart Church Complex which includes the former rectory, church, school and convent buildings pursuant to Article 10, Section 1004(c) of the Planning Code. Sacred Heart Parish Complex is significant for its association with the growth and development of the Western Addition and Catholic religious institutions in San Francisco in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; with prominent and influential civil rights activist Father Eugene Boyle, pastor of the church from 1968 to 1972; as a distinctive and well‐executed example of a Romanesque Revival‐style Catholic parish grouping and for its association with master architect Thomas J. Welsh. 546-548 Fillmore Street is located in a RM-3 Residential-Mixed, Medium Density zoning district and 40-X Height and Bulk district; 554 Fillmore Street is located in a RM-1 Residential-Mixed, Low Density zoning district and 40-X Height and Bulk District; 735 Fell Street is located in a RM-3 Residential-Mixed, Medium Density zoning district and 40-X Height and Bulk District; and 660 Oak Street is located in a RM-1 Residential-Mixed, Low Density zoning district and 40-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Adopt a Recommendation for Approval
(Proposed Continuance to Regular hearing on July 19, 2017)
SPEAKER: + Shannon Ferguson – Staff Report re: continuance
+ Andrew Junius – Request for continuance
+ Mark Riser – Support for continuance
+ Speaker – Project sponsor comments re: continuance
+ Robert Pritchard – Support for continuance
+ Jan Robinson – Support for continuanceACTION: Continued to July 19, 2017 AYES: Wolfram, Hasz, Johnck, Johns, Matsuda, Pearlman ABSENT: Hyland
E. CONSENT CALENDAR
All matters listed hereunder constitute a Consent Calendar, are considered to be routine by the Historic Preservation Commission, and may be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the Commission. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the Commission, the public, or staff so requests, in which event the matter shall be removed from the Consent Calendar and considered as a separate item at this or a future hearing.
7. 2017-000054COA (J. VIMR: (415) 575-9109)
601 WALLER STREET – southwest corner of Waller Street and Pierce Street, Assessor's Block/Lots 0864/026, 0864/027, and 0864/028 (District 6). Request for a Certificate of Appropriateness to complete exterior alterations to a Contributory building within the Duboce Park Landmark District. The project proposes to demolish the existing irregular, pitched roof at the rear addition and replace it with a new roof deck; replace two existing windows and install one new window along the Pierce Street façade; and replace an existing window at the rear elevation with an enlarged door to provide access to the new deck. The project site is within a RTO (Residential Transit Oriented) Zoning District, 40-X Height and Bulk District, and the Duboce Park Landmark District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approve
SPEAKER: None ACTION: Approved AYES: Wolfram, Hasz, Johnck, Johns, Matsuda, Pearlman ABSENT: Hyland MOTION: 0304
F. REGULAR CALENDAR
8. 2015-000644ENV (T. JOHNSTON: (415) 575-9035)
BIOSOLIDS DIGESTER FACILITY PROJECT (BDFP) – located at 750 Phelps Street, 1700 Jerrold Avenue, 1800 Jerrold Avenue, and 1801 Jerrold Avenue, Assessor's Block 5262 Lot 009 and Block 5281 Lot 001. Commission Review and Comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report. The proposed project would construct new solids treatment, odor control, energy recovery, and associated facilities as part of improvements to the wastewater treatment facilities at the existing Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant (SEP) in San Francisco. Nine structures totaling about 136,000 square feet of building area, all of which are less than 65 feet tall, would be demolished at the project site and construction staging areas. The structures to be demolished were built between 1952 and 2009. The project would construct 22 above- and below-ground facilities on about 206,000 square feet of the project site. The tallest new buildings would be 65 feet tall; the tallest new structure, an exhaust stack, would be 75 feet tall. The project site is located within the P (Public Facilities), M-1 (Light Industrial), and M-2 (Industrial) Zoning Districts with a 65-J Height and Bulk Limit. The Draft EIR concluded that the proposed project would result in a significant and unavoidable impact in the area of cultural resources that would remain significant and unavoidable even with implementation of feasible mitigation measures. Specifically, the project would impact an identified individual historic architectural resource due to the demolition of Central Shops Buildings A and B; and would result in a cumulative impact on an identified, eligible historic district, the Southeast Plant Streamline Moderne Industrial Historic District, because implementation of the project would replace the function of the existing digesters and would allow for future demolition of the digesters and other contributors to the historic district.
Note: The Architectural Review Committee (ARC) of the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) reviewed the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) at their July 20, 2016 meeting. The ARC letter to the HPC and supporting documentation is linked here.
This public hearing is intended to assist the Commission in its preparation of comments on the DEIR. Comments made by members of the public at this hearing will not be considered comments on the DEIR and may not be responded to in the Final EIR (FEIR). The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to receive comments on the DEIR on June 1, 2017. Written comments on the DEIR will be accepted at the Planning Department until 5:00 p.m., June 19, 2017.
Preliminary Recommendation: Review and Comment
SPEAKER: = Tim Johnston – Staff report
+ Carolyn Chiu – SFPUC ReportACTION: Reviewed and Commented
AYES: Wolfram, Hasz, Johnck, Johns, Matsuda, Pearlman ABSENT: Hyland LETTER: 0078 9a. 2017-004872LBR (S. CISNEROS: (415) 575-9186)
1051 OCEAN AVENUE – south side of Ocean Avenue at the corner of Lee Avenue. Assessor's Block 6945, Lot 043 (District 7). Consideration of adoption of a resolution recommending Small Business Commission approval of a Legacy Business application. Beep's Burgers is a classic neighborhood drive-in restaurant founded in 1962 in the Ocean View/Ingleside neighborhood. The Legacy Business Registry recognizes longstanding, community-serving businesses that are valuable cultural assets to the City. In addition, the City intends that the Registry be a tool for providing educational and promotional assistance to Legacy Businesses to encourage their continued viability and success. The subject business is within a NCT (Ocean Avenue Neighborhood Commercial Transit) Zoning District and 45-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Adopt a Recommendation for Approval
SPEAKER: = Stephanie Cisneros – Staff report
+ Neil Ballard – Beep's
+ Mark Bitner – Canessa Gallery
+ Julie Jacobs – Canessa Gallery
+ Judy Irving – Canessa GalleryACTION: Adopted a Recommendation for Approval AYES: Wolfram, Hasz, Johnck, Johns, Matsuda, Pearlman ABSENT: Hyland RESOLUTION: 870 9b. 2017-004873LBR (S. CISNEROS: (415) 575-9186)
708 MONTGOMERY – east side of Montgomery Street. Assessor's Block 0196, Lot 010 (District 3). Consideration of adoption of a resolution recommending Small Business Commission approval of a Legacy Business application. Founded in 1966, Canessa Gallery is a non-profit art gallery showcasing the work of artists who are dedicated lifetime artists located in the Financial District/North Beach neighborhood. The Legacy Business Registry recognizes longstanding, community-serving businesses that are valuable cultural assets to the City. In addition, the City intends that the Registry be a tool for providing educational and promotional assistance to Legacy Businesses to encourage their continued viability and success. The subject business is within a C-2 (Community Business) Zoning District and 65-A Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Adopt a Recommendation for Approval
SPEAKER: Same as Item 9a. ACTION: Adopted a Recommendation for Approval AYES: Wolfram, Hasz, Johnck, Johns, Matsuda, Pearlman ABSENT: Hyland RESOLUTION: 871
ADJOURNMENT– 1:33 PM
ADOPTED JUNE 7, 2017